Nail biting is a habit of many people. This seemingly innocuous action has many potential health risks. Do not be subjective, the habit of biting your nails can cause unpredictable consequences for your health that you did not expect. Nail biting is one of the basic human responses, and this behavior is controlled by certain circuits in the brain, which means it can quickly develop into an automatic response. A lot of people bite their nails because they’re nervous, stressed, and it’s become a habit they don’t even know. The habit of biting your nails not only makes your hands ugly, but can also cause permanent damage to your nails, teeth or gums. Here are some for you about: how to stop biting nails?
Maintain your nail health
Get a manicure as often as possible. Getting a beautiful manicure will make you not want to bite, right?. Moreover, nail polish also helps you resist the urge to bite your nails because you don’t want to bite the nail polish or damage the nails. You will probably pay attention to keeping your nails so beautiful by not biting them.
Health benefits of manicure:
Exfoliate dead cells. The hands are often exposed to dust and dirt more than any other part of the body, so the skin of our hands must constantly regenerate new cells and eliminate old ones. The manicure process often includes both cleansing and moisturizing to remove dead cells. Your hands will stay smooth and fine lines will gradually fade.
Relaxing moment. Getting a manicure is also a great way to relax and enjoy pampering. You can have your nails done to relieve your stress.
At Rachel’s Nails, we provide classic manicure – the most basic nail
service. To begin, the manicurist carefully sanitizes your hands to eliminate any remaining stains. Your hands are then bathed in vitamin C-infused water. Next, the nail technician presses and tidies your cuticles to ensure that you get clean nails. After that, they cut and shape your nails, and lightly massage them.
Keep fingernails short. If any nails grow too long, cut them short. A simple nail cut will help you keep your nails healthy and short enough to prevent you from biting more. Always carry a nail clipper with you. You can’t bite your nails if you don’t have nails to bite, right? Also, short nails are easier to keep and more hygienic than long nails.
Use hand moisturizer. This is the way which many people use when they want to quit the habit of biting their nails. Hand cream will make you afraid to put your hand in your mouth because you know there are cosmetics. You should apply hand moisturizer thoroughly around your nails. Moreover, if you maintain this habit, you will have soft, fragrant hands every day. You will not have to worry about the problem: how to stop biting nails when you can prevent it by moisturizing your hand skin.
Always keep your hands busy
Find another habit instead of nail biting. Every time you crave nail biting, replace it with a new habit. Some people like to tap their fingers, twist their thumbs, interlock their hands, put their hands in their pockets, or simply stare at their hands. However, you need to make sure it’s not a bad habit, find habits that are helpful or at least harmless.
Alternative habits for nail biting:
Play with a small object. Carry a small rubber band, coin, or something to hold in your hand to replace the habit of biting your nails.
Distract your hands when you often bite your nails. Identify a time when you often bite your nails, such as in the car or in class, and find ways to change this habit depending on the situation. If you are in class, focus on taking lots of notes. If you are in the car, you can play with your phone.
Distract your hands by finding a new hobby. A new hobby will not only stop you from biting your nails, but you may also discover a new passion through it.
Hobbies which you should try:
Housecleaning. With this hobby, you’ll be rewarded with a cleaner, more organized home, which in turn will make you happier at home, too.
Jogging. Physical activity releases endorphins, which help relieve stress. This is useful if you often bite your nails when you’re nervous.
Having a manicure. Getting your nails done with beautiful designs is a creative way to get rid of the habit of biting your nails.
Keep your mouth busy. While you should avoid creating a new habit, here are a few tips that can help keep your mouth busy and nail biting less.
Tips to keep your mouth busy:
Chew gum or eat peppermint candy all day. You will have a hard time biting your nails if your mouth is busy chewing gum or eating delicious candy. In addition, nails mixed with mint or orange flavors in candy will cause a feeling of disgust and make you stop.
Bring a bottle of water with you. Wherever you go, you should bring a water bottle to take a sip during the moment you want to bite your nails. Drinking water not only helps you to gradually stop biting your nails, but also helps you to have better health as well as a more beautiful skin.
Quit the habit of biting your nails one by one.
Step 1: Select a nail to “protect”. If there’s one nail that’s damaged more than the others, it’s probably best to start with that nail. If the nails are all the same, you can choose any nail you like. If you find it difficult to break a habit all at once, treating each nail one at a time can make this easier. This allows you to gradually establish better habits.
Step 2: Do not bite selected nails for several days. You will probably be able to do this without much difficulty, but if you need help, you can wrap the bandage around the tip of your chosen finger. This way, you can block access to that nail and make it difficult to bite.
Step 3: Notice how the protected nail looks better than the others. After a few days, the nail that is not bitten will grow out and pay off for your effort. Try not to bite your chosen nail during this time. If biting, bite the “unprotected” nails. Sometimes even knowing you have another nail to bite on is helpful, even if you don’t actually.
Step 4: Choose a different nail to stop biting. Once you’ve grown a bitten nail for a while, you can start protecting another nail. However, during this time, it is important that you do not touch both the first and second fingers. You certainly don’t want to ruin your achievements by biting your first nail after moving on to a new goal!
Cover your nails
Paint your nails. Try using a bold color like red or black, which will be very ugly when chipped by gnawing. If you don’t like paint, polish your nails and apply a coat of nail polish or Vaseline cream. You will hardly bite your nails when you have such beautiful nails. This is a useful method on how to stop biting nails. You can quit bad habit and have lovely nails at the same time.
At Rachel’s Nails, we have different types of nail services. You can go
for a classic manicure with gel/shellac if you want simple nails. But you can always go for a full set acrylic extension if you like glamorous, beautiful nails. When compared to other sites, the pricing and quality of the services here are quite reasonable.
Attach false nails. This is also a great way to cover the nails. Go to a professional manicurist to get your nails done, including acrylics. Acrylic nails are very durable, and when you remove the fake nails, you will have real nails underneath.If you are really determined, you can choose to do expensive fake nails. That way you will not want to bite your luxurious nails.
Wear gloves. Put gloves in your back pocket and put them on your hands every time you want to bite your nails. This tip will make you try harder to stop biting your nails if it’s the middle of summer and you look weird with gloves on. If the gloves make it difficult for you to write or do something, you will be more motivated to stop biting your nails. Tell yourself that if you didn’t have this bad habit, you wouldn’t have to wear gloves.
Some advice for you on how to stop biting nails
- Remember that severe nail biting can lead to health problems. When you
bite your nails, you are constantly bringing bacteria from your hands into your mouth.
- Motivate yourself with special rewards for not biting your nails. For
example, if you go a week without biting your nails, go out to dinner with friends or buy yourself something really cute. If you feel like biting your nails, remember that you won’t get those rewards.
- Think about when and how you started biting your nails. There may be an
underlying cause of stress, anxiety, or boredom. Addressing potential problems can help you stop biting your nails and more.
- Mark on your calendar every day that goes by without biting your nails.
Try to get through as many days in a row as possible. In the end, when you look back, you will feel proud that you broke the habit.
- Warning
You should know when to get help. If the habit of biting your nails has become such a serious problem that you are constantly biting your nails, frequently bleeding from your cuticles, or even losing your nails, you may not be able to break the habit on your own. In this case, you should see your doctor as soon as possible to determine if it is a symptom of a larger problem, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
Nail biting can lead to serious harm. Nail biting puts pressure on your teeth. This habit can cause the position of the teeth to shift, causing chipping or damage to enamel. The area under the nails is home to many harmful bacteria such as Salmonella, E.Coli or bacteria that cause colds. When you bite your nails, they can get into your mouth and down into your stomach, causing illness in your body.
Conclusion
Nail biting is a common habit in children, but today, adults, especially young people, often have this bad habit. And more dangerous is that most people think this is a normal habit that does not affect health at all. This is not only harmful to your health, but also affects the view of people around you.
However, how to stop biting nails is not that difficult. The above methods that we mentioned will be able to help you gradually get rid of this bad habit. Every change takes time, so be patient to get the results you want. You will have a beautiful and healthy nail if you quit the habit of biting your nails.
Looking at a hand with beautiful nails, you will not have the desire to “put your mouth” in and bite, right? So take some time to make your nails become beautiful by not biting them. Note that the nails should not be too long, otherwise the “desire” to bite the nails will return. You should also maintain a healthy and reasonable hobby so that your mouth does not feel “missing” when you do not bite your nails.
After you have completely “failed” the extremely bad habit: nail biting, reward yourself! We hope that all the information that we provide to you is helpful and you will soon give up the nail biting habit.
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